Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman joined independent journalist Nick Shirley and social media influencer Joe Sweeny on beleaguered Canal Street Saturday to show solidarity for locals and business owners plagued by illegal street vendors, drug use and rampant crime.
“There has been a deterioration in the last six months of the quality of life in this community’s safety,” said Blakeman, who vowed to be much tougher on crime than Gov. Kathy Hochul if he defeats her in November.
“People defecating and urinating in the streets; … peddlers without licenses are all over the place, peddling counterfeit goods. It’s a situation that needs to be cleaned up, and [Mayor] Zohran Mamdani won’t do it unless he’s forced to do it.”
The trio called on Mamdani and Hochul to clean up the increasingly seedy Manhattan strip. The Nassau County executive called Sweeny and Shirley “patriots” for hosting the rally.
Shirley and Sweeny later joined a group of volunteers for a clean-up effort — painting over a slew of storefronts and a nearby Broadway building defaced by graffiti.
“This stuff shouldn’t be happening here,” Shirley said. “This is one of the nicest spots of New York City. We shouldn’t allow our streets to look like this.”
Sweeny, a fellow conservative who is considering running for mayor in 2029, insisted the cleanup and rally isn’t about politics.
“If Mamdani or Hochul, or anyone from the left wanted to come down here and help out, they’ve got an open invitation,” he said. “This is about clean and safe communities. “
“That’s not a right thing; that’s not a left thing; that’s not a conservative thing. It’s not a liberal thing. I think this is something that the spectrum of folks can come out and support, and I frankly wish that they would.”
Canal Street has become a magnet for illegal migrants selling counterfeit goods on the sidewalk.
Despite crackdown efforts by federal immigration officers and other law enforcement last year, the illegals continued to turn and the situation has gotten worse since Mamdani was sworn in as mayor in January, according to critics.
There were no sign of illegal street merchants during the two-hour rally and cleanup after an NYPD cleanup earlier in the week.
